During Easter in Greece it is a tradition to have “Magiritsa“, a soup of lamb innards. This is a bit too much even for Greeks to have on a regular basis so this is my wife’s take on a more ordinary version with a verve, the chicken Magiritsa fricassee. For a professional presentation of a similar dish this NYT piece is excellent.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and simmer the chopped dry onions and chicken quarters. Add 6-8 cups of water and when it starts boiling add the rest of the greens (scallions, dill, mint, parsley) properly chopped. Reduce heating to the point the soup barely boils (no bubble brake up at the top). After about 40mins add the cup of rice. After 20-30 mins or when the meat is tender enough we take it off the heat, carefuly place the chicken quarters in a platter and separate out the bones. Put just the chicken meat back in the pan. Just before serving we make the avgolemono:

Beat vigorously the juice of 3 lemons with 3tbs of the broth and a pinch of salt, to taste, using a whisk or spoon. Caution: the soup should be taken off the heat for at least 15mins before adding the avgolemono to avoid curdling. When the lemon + broth mix foams add it to the soup and voila, a hearty chicken soup with a Magiritsa verve.